Am.  jour.  Pharm.\        Bioloaical  Standardization. 
February,  19 17.    }  ° 
69 
to  be  observed  when  testing  a  good  carefully  prepared  extract.  It 
can  be  eliminated  entirely  as  a  factor  by  the  alternate  injection  of 
sample  and  standard.  These  facts  are  brought  out  and  illustrated 
by  Hamilton  &  Rowe  (14),  who  suggest  that  clinicians  working  in 
conjunction  with  pharmacologists  aid  in  determining  which  reaction 
more  nearly  coincides  with  therapeutic  value.  No  positive  evidence 
has  yet  been  brought  forward  to  prove  that  the  blood  pressure  test 
carefully  carried  out  is  not  a  direct  measure  not  only  of  pressor,  but 
also  of  oxytocic  activity  together  with  its  action  on  the  kidneys,  in- 
testines and  the  mammary  glands. 
When  a  therapeutic  agent  such  as  the  extract  of  the  pituitary 
gland  has  been  in  practical  use  for  nearly  ten  years  and  through  clin- 
ical as  well  as  laboratory  experiments  has  been  standardized  to  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  activity — a  strength  demanded  by  obstetricians  and 
surgeons  as  essential  for  obtaining  the  desired  results — any  read- 
justment of  activity  should  be  made  with  extreme  caution. 
The  revision  committee,  however,  ignored  this  phase  of  the  ques- 
tion and  have  adopted  a  standard  activity  for  Liquor  Hypophysis 
U.  S.  P.  9th,  considerably  below  that  of  the  standard  preparations 
on  the  market. 
To  make  an  official  extract  from  this  gland  material  conform- 
ing in  every  respect  to  U.  S.  P.  requirements  lowers  the  standard 
from  that  at  present  generally  used  by  the  medical  profession  to  one 
only  40  per  cent,  as  high  activity.  Is  there  not  reason  enough  for 
Dr.  Rusby's  statement  that  "  it  may  safely  be  said  that  its  (biolog- 
ical standardization)  efficiency  and  authority  were  seriously  doubted 
by  a  large  majority  of  the  medical  profession  "  ? 
It  is  in  many  cases  difficult  enough  to  answer  the  question  "Is 
the  sample  of  drug  that  has  been  found  to  possess  the  greatest  power 
to  kill  a  cat  the  one  that  will  prove  most  efficient  in  curing  a  man  ?  " 
The  advocates  of  biological  standardization  are  now  in  the  position 
where  they  must  either  ignore  the  official  "  biological  assays  "  or  be 
forced  to  justify  methods  which  are  in  part  at  least  illogical  and  in- 
accurate and  standards  which  are  not  in  line  with  medical  require- 
ments. 
Considering  the  present  status  of  biological  standardization  this 
is  an  unfortunate  situation. 
